Kestra Advisory Services LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR)

Kestra Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Danaher Co. (NYSE:DHR) by 10.4% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 80,474 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,609 shares during the quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Danaher were worth $20,097,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in Danaher by 33.0% in the 4th quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 4,964 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,148,000 after buying an additional 1,233 shares in the last quarter. Successful Portfolios LLC boosted its holdings in Danaher by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Successful Portfolios LLC now owns 1,107 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Danaher by 30.9% in the fourth quarter. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC now owns 1,990 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $460,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. grew its stake in Danaher by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. DeDora Capital Inc. now owns 2,786 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $645,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Danaher during the 4th quarter worth approximately $454,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Alan G. Spoon sold 708 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.58, for a total value of $172,454.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 116,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,304,483.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, SVP Brian W. Ellis sold 9,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.16, for a total value of $2,641,536.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,566,486.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Alan G. Spoon sold 708 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.58, for a total value of $172,454.64. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 116,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,304,483.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 84,775 shares of company stock valued at $21,802,690. Company insiders own 11.10% of the company’s stock.

Danaher Stock Performance

Shares of DHR stock traded up $3.82 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $273.91. The stock had a trading volume of 2,810,147 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,314,172. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $255.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $249.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $197.82 billion, a PE ratio of 46.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.83. Danaher Co. has a twelve month low of $182.09 and a twelve month high of $277.72.

Danaher (NYSE:DHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.15. Danaher had a return on equity of 11.06% and a net margin of 16.94%. The company had revenue of $5.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.05 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Danaher Co. will post 7.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Danaher Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. Danaher’s payout ratio is 18.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Danaher from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. SVB Leerink boosted their target price on shares of Danaher from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Danaher from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Danaher from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Danaher in a report on Monday, June 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $295.00 target price on the stock. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Danaher has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $276.88.

Danaher Company Profile

Danaher Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets professional, medical, industrial, and commercial products and services worldwide. The Biotechnology segments offers bioprocess technologies, consumables, and services that advance, accelerate, and integrate the development and manufacture of therapeutics; cell line and cell culture media development services; cell culture media, process liquids and buffers for manufacturing, chromatography resins, filtration technologies, aseptic fill finish; single-use hardware and consumables and services, such as the design and installation of full manufacturing suites; lab filtration, separation, and purification; lab-scale protein purification and analytical tools; reagents, membranes, and services; and healthcare filtration solutions.